Drop-leaf supports for extension tables



April 17, 1951 s. T. ANDERSON 2,548,927

DROP-LEAF SUPPORTS FOR EXTENSION TABLES Filed Jan. 8, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Zmvcutor (Ittomcg 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Zhweutor Stanle I1 Elnfievsun Gttorneg S. T. ANDERSON DROP-LEAF SUPPORTS FOR EXTENSION TABLES April 17, 1951 Flled Jan 8 19 48 Patented Apr. 17, 1951 orrics DROP-LEAF SUPPORTS FOR EXTENSION TABLES Stanley T. Anderson, Jamestown, N. Y.

Application January 8, 1948, Serial No. 1,249

1 Claim.

This invention relates to extension tables and particularly to tables of the type having end drop leaves and supports therefor.

It is, of course, well known that a variety of structures have been provided for the purpose of supporting drop leaves in position of use. These structures very often have included folding hinges, extendable or swinging members, or some combination thereof. structures, although initially serving as adequate support for the leaves, have been of a somewhat complicated nature and, after extended use, failed to maintain the leaves in the plane of the table top. Furthermore, many of these structures have been found to be costly to manufacture and somewhat diincult to install.

It is a purpose and particular object of the' present invention to provide means for positioning and maintaining the drop leaves of an extension table in the plane of the table top.

Another object of the invention lies in the provision of means for supporting the end' drop leaves of a table through use of such structure that, when the leaves are in lowered position, it constitutes an ornamental part of the entire table.

It is another object of the invention to provide drop-leaf supporting means that constitutes a part of the extension slides -of the table.

It is a further and important object of the invention to provide means that derives its support for drop leaves from the extension slide of which it forms a part, as well as from the table apron, and thus is enabled to position and maintain a raised leaf in the plane of the table top.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be more fully understood from a consideration of the following specification, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing; and in which Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a drop-leaf extension table embodying one form of the invention and shows the leaves in lowered position;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the structure of Fig. l and shows the drop leaves in raised, supported position;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the table with the top and raised leaves partly broken away, and generally shows the supports for the leaves and their relationship to the extension slides;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view showing one leaf raised and the other lowered, a part of the table top and raised leaf being broken away to show the relative position of the leaf supporting parts under these conditions;

For the most part such;

slide units 2|. 'tration of the invention, includes five slide mem- Fig. '5 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view showing the association of the drop-leaf support with one of the extension slides; and

namented. The upper end of each post 43 terminates in a mounting block l4. Secured, in any suitable manner, to the tops of the blocks M of the endmost bases are the end portions 15 of aprons ll. These aprons include sides it which, when the table is in collapsed o-r retracted position, abut one another, substantially as suggested in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 of the drawing. On the upper face of the block M of the centrally located base H is secured a transverse member l9. ihis member carries a pair of conventional extension Each unit, in the present illusbers 22 that are connected for relative endwise movement to a predetermined extent, in a manner common to such slides. It will be noted that each of the units 2! includes a central slide 23 that is secured to the member is and that the two slide members 22 on either side of this fixed member are movable with respect thereto; two being adapted to move in one direction and two in the other. Of course, the outermost slide members 22 are joined to their corresponding parts of the split table top 24.

A pair of drop leaves 26 are joined by suitable hinges (not shown) to the endmost edges of the split top 24. As has been indicated, the invention is primarily directed to means by which to support these leaves in the plane of the top. Each of these leaves is held in raised position in the plane of the table top by means of a structure that consists of a cross rail 2! that is similar to the end portion of apron 11. Each rail 2! is joined to a pair of slides 28. Each of the slides 28 is so constructed as to become an end portion of the adjacent table extension slide previously described. In other words, the slide 28 is interfitted with and movable with respect to the endmost slide 22 of unit 2!. A pair of these slides, one joined to each of the slide units, is

movable with respect to the table slides for the purpose of moving the rail 21 from the position of disuse, shown in Fig. 1, to the position of use, shown in Figs. 2 to 5, wherein it is sufiiciently removed from the end of the table to provide adequate support for one of the leaves 26. It will, of course, be understood that the slides 28 project through suitable openings 29 in the aprons H and, when the rail 21 has been moved to a position of disuse, it constitutes, in a sense, an auxiliary ornamental portion of the apron of the table.

It will be particularly noted that the leaf supporting rail 21, by reason of its fixed association with a pair of slides 28, provides support for the leaf throughout its length, Contrary to many drop-leaf supports, the present invention does not consist of merely a central, swingable or slidable member, or two or more individually adjustable members, but a slidable unit that gives such support to the leaf that a user of the table may, without hesitancy, apply a considerable weight to any part of the leaf without causing it to be depressed, or cause any untoward strain on the supporting structure. The strength of the leaf support is in part due to the fact that the slides 28 form part of the exension slide of the table and also to the fact that each slide 28 derives a part of its support from contact with the lower edge of the slot 29 of the apron l1.

In other words, for the leaf supporting unit to be tilted to a position such that the leaf would be out of the plane of the top 24, it would be necessary for the slides 28 to fulcrum about their points of contact with the lower edges of slots 29 and raise at least a part of each of the slide members 22 of the extension units 2!. Obviously, any such action would of necessity be of such force and strength as to, in all probability, ruin the entire table, but it is pointed out that such force would necessarily have to be applied before the leaves 26 could possibly be depressed to any appreciable extent from the plane of the top 24.

In order that the cross rail 2'1, when extended to support a leaf, need not have such close contact with said leaf as to scrape or rub against its under surface, it is proposed, under some conditions of use, to so locate this rail that, when moved to extended position, it will not contact the under surface of the leaf but will move into contact with two or more wedge-shaped blocks 3| secured to the leafs under surface. As is suggested in Fig. 6 of the drawing, the rail 21, when moved to fully extended position, moves beneath and into contact with the blocks 3|, thus elevat ing the leaf into and holding it in the desired position which, of course, is the plane of the split top 24. It will, of course, be understood that in the use of the present invention with different types or sizes of tables it may be found most suitable'to provide somewhat differently proportioned blocks than the blocks 31 shown, or to eliminate the blocks entirely.

Although applicant has shown and described only one form of his invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that other modifications or adaptations of the structure herein disclosed may be made and are contemplated insofar as they are within the spirit and scope of the invention as set out in the annexed claim.

Having thus set forth my invention, what I claim as new and for which I desire protection by Letters Patent is:

In a table having a pair of leg supported pedestals, apron sections on said pedestals, top panels mounted on and permanently secured to said sections, and drop leaves hinged to said panels; extension units connecting said pedestals, sections and panels, said units including a plurality of slides interfitted to be movable in the direction of their length, one end slide of each unit projecting through said apron sections, a rail joined to the projecting ends of said end slides, said end slides and said rail being movable to an extended position with respect to each section and adapted to support said leaves in the plane of said top panels.

STANLEY T. ANDERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 88,433 Bachman Mar. 30, 1869 205,393 Kade June 25, 1878 343,307 Goldbach June 8, 1886 1,976,083 Miller Oct. 9, 1934 2,075,881 Bekins Apr. 6, 1937 2,140,073 Czubinski Dec. 13, 1938 2,213,695 Ellington Sept. 3, 1940 2,456,821 Ellington Dec. 21, 1948 

